2004 LEXUS RX330 Complaints

ACCELERATION WITH THIS SUV IS NOT POSITIVE AND YOU NEVER KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO MOVE WHEN YOU DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR. THIS SUV USES "DRIVE BY WIRE" TECHNOLOGY SO THERE IS NO PHYSICAL LINK BETWEEN THE GAS PEDAL AND THE ENGINE. WHEN YOU DEPRESS THE GAS, THERE IS A DELAY IN THE REPONSE WHICH CAN CAUSE YOU TO END UP IN SOME OTHER DRIVER'S PATH. THIS CAR IS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND NEEDS TO BE RECALLED AND FIXED BY THE MANUFACTURER BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. I TOOK MY SUV TO THE DEALER AND HE "RESET MY ON-BOARD COMPUTER AND THE COMPUTER THAT COMMUNICATES TO THE TRANSMISSION .......... THIS DID NOTHING! I PLAN TO TAKE MY SUV BACK TO THE DEALER AGAIN AND IF HE CANNOT REPAIR THE PROBLEM I AM GOING TO TERMINATE MY LEASE!*AK

2004 LEXUS RX 330 HAS INTERMITTANT, ERRATIC AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. DEALER SAYS IT IS A "HESITATIION ISSUE", BUT RFEUSES TO CONFIRM IN WRITING BECAUSE MANUFACTURER SAYS IT'S THE WAY THE CAR IS DESIGNED. EVEN THOUGH COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE COMPLAINED, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE.*AK

WHEN INITIALLY DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE PEDAL DOES NOT DEPRESS SMOOTHLY, INSTEAD IN FREQUENTLY SHUDDERS AS IT GOES DOWN THROUGH THE INITIAL PART OF THE STROKE, GOING DOWN IN A STAIR-STEP MANNER. THIS HAPPENS EVEN WHEN STANDING STILL, AND IS MOST NOTICEABLE WHEN PRESSING THE BRAKE GENTLY. IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO STOP SMOOTHLY AND PRECISELY, OCCASIONALLY CAUSING JERKY, ERRATIC BRAKING. THE DEALER REPLACED THE MASTER CYLINDER AND BOOSTER ASSEMBLY, ONLY TO HAVE THE PROBLEM BECOME EVEN WORSE! *JB

OUR 2004 LEXUS RX330 (NOW ABOUT 15,000 MILES) CONTINUES TO HAVE TERRIBLE SHIFTING PROBLEMS WITH THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. IN PARTICULAR, TWO MAJOR ISSUES -- (1) DOESN'T UPSHIFT CORRECTLY, USUALLY BETWEEN 2ND AND 3RD GEARS, BUT THE REAL CONCERN IS (2) WHEN SLOWING DOWN, COASTING ANYTHING ABOVE 0 MPH (EVEN 1), THEN HITTING THE GAS PEDAL, THE CAR SIMPLY DOESN'T RESPOND FOR 3-5 SECONDS, THEN SLOWLY ACCELERATES. WE'VE ALMOST BEEN HIT 5 TIMES BECAUSE OF THE 2ND PROBLEM. WE'VE TAKEN THE CAR TO THE DEALER FOUR TIMES TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT. THE FIRST TIME THE DEALER DENIED THE PROBLEM EXISTED. THE SECOND TIME THEY RECOGNIZED IT (AFTER A TEST DRIVE WITH ME) AND RESET THE SOFTWARE/DRIVING CHIP, TELLING ME THE CAR "LEARNS" OUR DRIVING HABITS AFTER ABOUT 300 MILES, SO TO GET THE CAR TO RESPOND [THE WAY IT SHOULD], I SHOULD FLOOR THE GAS ALL THE TIME FOR THE FIRST 300 MILES OR SO, WHICH I DID FROM EVERY STOPLIGHT FOR 350 MILES. IT DIDN'T WORK. NOW DURING MY THIRD AND FOURTH VISITS LEXUS HAS DECLINED TO RESET THE CHIP OR DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THE LEAD MECHANIC TOLD ME THEY SIMPLY DON'T HAVE A FIX, AND HE KNOWS IT'S AN ISSUE. IN FACT, A MONTH AGO (SERVICE APPT #4) THEY SAID I WOULD HAVE TO PAY ABOUT $300 TO HAVE THEM RESET THE CHIP AGAIN (WHICH LIKELY WOULDN'T WORK ANYWAY, AS DESCRIBED ABOVE). I'VE BEEN TOLD BY THE SERVICE ADVISOR HE'S HEARD COMPAINTS FROM MANY NEW RX330 OWNERS ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM, BUT SHORT OF A RECALL FROM LEXUS, "THAT'S THE WAY THE TRANSMISSION WORKS ON THE RX330 AND WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT". IT'S TERRIBLY FRUSTRATING THAT LEXUS DENIES THERE'S A PROBLEM, EVEN THOUGH MANY HAVE REPORTED IT, AND WE'VE ALMOST BEEN HIT BY ANOTHER AUTOMOBILE BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. I JUST HOPE IT DOESN'T TAKE A MAJOR ACCIDENT OR WORSE FOR LEXUS OR THE NHTSA TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.*AK

1. THERE WERE NO EVENTS THAT LED UP TO THE PROBLEM THAT I HAVE BEEN HAVING. . THE TRANSMISSION ON MY BRAND NEW LEXUS RX 330 DOESN'T SHIFT PROPERLY. IT KICKS WHEN STEPING ON THE THE GAS PEDAL, THERE IS A HESITATION WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP, & BETWEEN 20 - 40 MPH, AS THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS, THE TRANSMISSION HAS TROUBLE UP SHIFTING AND ENGINE REVS UP AND DOWN SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE SHIFTING 3. THE DEALER HAS TRIED TO REPROGRAM THE TRANSMISSION COMPUTER, AND HAS TRIED SWITCHING TO HIGH OCTANE FUEL. NEITHER HAS WORKED. THE DEALER IS TRYING TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER, I KNOW OF SEVERAL RX 330 OWNERS WHO ARE ALL EXPERIENCEING SIMMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THEIR TRANSMISSIONS. IT SEEMS APPARENT THAT THERE IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT IN SOME PART OF THE TRANSMISSIONS USED IN THE RX 330. *AK

VEHICLE HESITATES AND ACCELERATES ERRACTICALLY CAUSING A HAZARD WHEN ENTERING TRAFFIC. DEALER TECH STATES VEHICLE IS PERFORMING AS DESIGNED". *JB

I HAVE OWNED MY 2004 LEXUS RX330 SINCE OCTOBER. I HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALERSHIP ON (4) SEPARATE OCCASIONS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. UPON ACCELERATION AFTER SLOWING DOWN THE VEHICLE AND RETURNING TO THE PEDAL TO REACCELERATE THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT ENGAGE. THE CAR HAS A "DEAD PEDAL" AT TIMES I HAVE EVEN PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR TO THE FLOOR WITH NO REACTION. WHEN YOU LET UP ON IT AND REPRESS THEN IT WILL REACT. ALSO THE TRANSMISSION HAS A "LAG" IN SHIFTING AT LOW SPEEDS. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ESPECIALLY WHEN YEILDING AND STARTING TO PROCEED, I HAVE ALMOST HIT A VEHICLE FROM THE LAG TIME FROM WHEN I ACTUALLY STARTED TO ACCELERATE AND THE VEHICLE ACTUALLY BEGINNING TO MOVE. I FEEL THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, AS I HAVE COME CLOSE TO HITTING A VEHICLE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS FROM THIS. I FEEL VERY UNSAFE IN THIS VEHICLE EVEN WITH THE OVERWHELMING SAFETY FEATURES OF THE VEHICLE. I DO NOT TRUST THAT WHEN I ENGAGE THE ACCELERATER TO GET OUT OF THE WAY THAT I WILL ACTUALLY MOVE. THE DEALER TOLD ME THE FIRST TIME WHEN THE CAR WENT IN FOR IT'S MANDATORY 1,000 MILE CHECKUP THAT THE COMPUTER NEEDS TO LEARN THE DRIVER AND THIS COULD TAKE THE FIRST 5,000 MILES. WHEN I RETURNED AT THE 5,000 MILE CHECKUP AND IT WAS STILL DOING IT. I WAS TOLD THEY REFLASHED THE COMPUTER TO ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THEN AFTER ANOTHER 1,000 MILES WHEN IT STILL DID THE SAME THING, THE SERVICE MANAGER TOOK THE CAR OUT AND SAID HE FLEW THE MEMORY IN THE COMPUTER AND RETAUGHT THE CAR TO DRIVE AGAIN AND TO DRIVE IT VERY CAUTIOUSLY FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS AND THAT WOULD CURE THE PROBLEM. WHEN IT GOT WORSE AND CONTINUED TO STILL DO THE SAME THING I TOOK IT IN AGAIN AND WAS TOLD IT WAS MY CAR MAT INTERFERRING WITH THE REACTION OF THE PEDAL AND THE TRANSMISSION AND TOLD TO REMOVE THE CAR MAT. AT THIS POINT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. THE CAR IS GOING IN AGAIN FOR THE 5TH TIME TO BE LOOKED AT??????? SOMEONE NEEDS TO SERIOUSLY ADDRESS THIS MATTER.*AK

THE AUTOMOBILE HAS A LATENT DEFECT AND IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS. IN NOVEMBER 2003, I ATTEMPTED TO BACK UP IN A CROWDED PARKING LOT, AND WHILE IN REVERSE, I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR - THERE WAS A LAG AND THE VEHICLE THEN ACCELERATED BACKWARD VERY RAPIDLY, STRIKING ANOTHER VEHICLE. I ASSUMED THE FAULT WAS MY OWN (SINCE IN MOVING MY FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR TO THE BRAKE, MY FOOT WAS CAUGHT UNDER THE BRAKE BECAUSE THE PEDALS ARE CLOSE TOGETHER, BUT THAT IS ANOTHER ITEM) AND AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED (APPROXIMATELY $7,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE) I RESUMED DRIVING THE VEHICLE. ON JUNE 29, 2004, AGAIN I WAS ATTEMPTING TO BACK UP AND AGAIN THE VEHICLE WAS IN REVERSE AND AGAIN WHEN I PRESSED ON THE ACCELERATOR, THERE WAS A LAG AND THEN AGAIN THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED RAPIDLY BACKWARDS, STRIKING A BUILDING. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE IS OVER $10,000, AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE COST OF THE DAMAGE TO THE BUILDING IS. INTERESTINGLY, AS WELL, IN NEITHER CASE DID THE AIRBAGS DEPLOY. THE SECOND INCIDENT RECEIVED SOME LOCAL PRESS COVERAGE, AND ON JULY 8, 2004 I RECEIVED A CALL FROM A VISITOR TO MASSACHUSETTS FROM FLORIDA WHO HAD HEARD ABOUT THE SECOND INCIDENT AND WHO REPORTED THAT ON JULY 1, 2004 THAT DRIVER WHILE IN A PARKING LOT HAD ALSO HAD SUDDEN RAPID ACCELERATION AND HAD STRUCK A BUILDING, DAMAGING THE DRIVER'S LEXUS RX 330. THAT DRIVER ALSO STATED THAT SHE HAD HEARD OF A THIRD INCIDENT IN MASSACHUSETTS OF A LEXUS RX 330 STRIKING A BUILDING FOLLOWING SUDDEN ACCELERATION. THE FAULTY TRANSMISSION, COUPLED WITH THE POWER AND TORQUE OF THE VEHICLE AND THE RESULTING SUDDEN ACCELERATION, IS A SERIOUS DEFECT; I WILL NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE AGAIN. THE RESPONSE OF THE LEXUS DEALER WHEN THE INCIDENTS WERE REPORTED TO IT WAS SILENCE. *LA

OUR 2004 LEXUS 330 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HAS NEVER WORKED PROPERLY. THE TRANSMISSION HESITATES AND SEEMS TO "BOUNCE" BETWEEN 3RD AND 4TH GEARS. WE HAVE RETURNED THE VEHICLE TWICE TO THE DEALERSHIP TO NO AVAIL. THIS SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN PROBLEM. *AK

SINCE I HAVE OWNED THIS VEHICLE, I HAVE HAD TROUBLE WITH ROUGH SHIFTING AND A LAG ASSOCIATED WITH A DELAY IN LOW SPEED ACCELERATION. RETURNED VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS ADJUSTED. PROBLEM PERSISTS. EVENTUALLY, SOMEONE WILL BE INJURED OR KILLED BY THIS PROBLEM DUE TO UNEXPECTED HESITATION IN ACCELERATION.*AK